Pokémon: Rise of the Poké-Teams - Muffin's Story
by IrkenBoi
Summary: In the world of Pokémon, the Earth is no longer inhabited by the humans. However, the tradition of fighting the Pokémon League lives on. While competing against his rival, a young eevee strives to become Champion. However, while enduring the many obstacles on his journey, he soon discovers that things have changed more than he had realized. (This version takes place with Muffin.)
1. The First Step

**I'm back with a new story (sort of)! For those of you who have read my story** _ **Pokémon: Rise of the Poké-Teams**_ **, or for those of you who have OCs on the Rival's Team, I've created an alternate version which takes place with Muffin and his Team. It's a good alternative to the original, because it places a (mostly) familiar story in the eyes of a different character. So, if you enjoyed the original, I hope you like this one just as much (if not more)!**

* * *

Running.

Attacking.

Winning.

Muffin dreamt that he was battling, but was bigger, stronger, more... evolved.

He dreamt of being a powerful umbreon, striking the champion team's Mega-Evolved gardevoir with his powerful Shadow Ball. He dreamt of standing atop the Pokémon League. He dreamt of being the newest champion.

Of being alone.

Muffin was a young eevee who lived in Vaniville Town. He had long bangs covering his right eye, which very few eevee had; other than that, his hair was spiky like any other eevee's hair.

His dream took a dark turn when the champion team's goodra used her Muddy Water attack. As soon as the water hit him, his dream changed to show him his old Human owner. The scientist was holding a lever as Muffin, inside a glass cage, felt a large object transported into his stomach. He remembered the torracat in pain as it tried and failed to produce a flame. He remembered being forced to sit through a video on learning to use Flamethrower. With difficulty, Muffin shot a blast of fire toward the target placed in front of him.

His dream shifted The Human tightly gripped Muffin by the scruff, and was holding his head in a tub of water. He winced as he recalled the sharp, piercing voice of his owner.

" _Now get in the cage!"_

Muffin whimpered in his sleep as he was dunked once more in the cold, piercing liquid.

Muffin gasped and rolled off of his bed onto the floor as he was awoken by one of his neighbors, who was squealing for some reason. He knew she lived nearby, and that she was a shinx, but the two of them had never personally met. He cringed and covered his long fluffy brown ears, but it was too late; he was awake.

When she finally stopped squealing, he began to drift off again, but was awoken by his doorbell being rang. He groaned and turned over. The doorbell rang again, and again. And again.

Muffin growled as he pushed himself off the floor. He got up and went down to the front door. He began to charge up Shadow Ball, the only TM move he liked, in case it was another caterpie messing with him.

Muffin jumped up to the doorknob and twisted it as hard as he could until it swung forward a little. He pushed his door open with his left paw, and outside was the delivery delibird. Muffin's Shadow Ball faded.

"Good morning," he said. "I'm here to deliver a bag of Oran Berr-"

"Not mine," Muffin interrupted. "I ordered a bag of Sitrus Berries and a Steel Model Capture Beam."

"Oh, yes. The Capture Beam is yours, but it'll take a few weeks to replace the Oran Berries with Sitrus Berries. I'm sorry."

Muffin groaned as his ears went back in frustration. It was either take Oran Berries for the price of Sitrus Berries, or wait three weeks before starting his adventure. "I'll just take them now," he grumbled, snatching the bag in his teeth and paying the delibird. He closed the door with his right-hind leg before the delibird could reply.

Muffin sighed and tore the package open. Inside was the Steel Model Capture Beam that he ordered two weeks ago. A Capture Beam was a special rod that used the technology of Poké Balls from when the Humans were alive. Many Pokémon, including many magnemite and magneton who helped out at the Poké Ball Factory, located north of Laverre City, worked together to recreate the satisfaction of working together to be the strongest, without adding the captivity of having to take orders from their "trainers" or be concealed in a ball for most of the time.

He took the Capture Beam out of the box and put it in a small saddlebag, along with the Oran Berries. He walked outside and realized that he would probably need to buy status healers. He moaned, knowing that he would have to deal with other Pokémon. He usually didn't like to talk to others. If anything, he wanted to avoid them at all costs.

* * *

Muffin walked down Vaniville Pathway (known by some as Route 1) and noticed a black and blue Pokémon watching the floating vivillon and butterfree. His ears drooped as he felt something strange in his chest. It wasn't happiness, nor was it necessarily pain. It was like a hole had dropped inside of him. He suddenly felt like the world was just a dark void around him. Whatever it was, it wasn't a pleasurable feeling.

He shook the feeling from his head and kept walking. Not wanting to be seen, he silently dashed down the pathway to reach Aquacorde Town. Muffin slipped between a fence and a lamp post to reach an alley behind some buildings. He stepped around another lamp post and entered a small store.

The small fox Pokémon walked up to the counter and placed some money down. "Five Cheri Berries and five Chesto Berries," he muttered. A cherrim passed the requested berries to Muffin. "Here you go," she said.

Muffin slipped the fruit in his bag and turned around to see a shinx with a cream-colored bandanna wrapped around her neck, with a light pink heart stitched onto it. As the shinx entered the shop, Muffin ran and slipped past her and out of the building.

On his way to Avance Trail (also known as Route 2), Muffin thought about the shinx. She seemed to be his neighbor from next door, and she appeared to be the perky type as well.

* * *

Muffin entered the Avance Trail and began to look around. As much as he despised being in contact with others, he knew he would have to train to come even close to defeating the champion.

Muffin noticed a litleo that seemed to be enough of a challenge to be beneficial. He crept toward the litleo, keeping his tail and ears as low to the ground as possible.

Muffin prepared to pounce at the litleo, but he felt the pressure of four paws painfully landing onto his back. He winced as the Pokémon pounced off. The litleo noticed this, and ran off to another patch of grass, looking enraged by the unwanted confrontation. Muffin sighed, assuming she had gone somewhere else to rest.

Muffin turned around to see the shinx looking around. He had just about had it with this Pokémon. Wherever he was, the shinx was there as well, and her presence brought nothing good. He charged a Shadow Ball at the shinx, and released it with full power.

The shinx apparently noticed this, and dodged this attack at the last second. She ran toward him charged with electricity, which he avoided easily. The shinx seemed to match his speed. Not necessarily caring for power at this point, he continuously fired Shadow Balls at her, all of which she avoided. When the blue lion cub Pokémon sped at him with Spark again, he stumbled but managed to avoid the attack.

Muffin had enough of this Pokémon avoiding his attacks, so he charged at her with full speed. When she fell on the ground, he blasted her with his signature Shadow Ball. He was satisfied to know he got his message across.

However, as he turned around to leave, a painful Spark slammed against his side, knocking him off his paws. Muffin noticed that his Capture Beam had slid out of his bag. Preparing to continue the battle, he began to push himself up off the ground. He was about to strike again, but noticed she was looking at something on the ground.

"You're a team captain?" she mumbled.

 _It looks like we have something in common, then,_ Muffin thought. "Yes," he sighed as he pushed himself up from the ground.

"Oh. So, I guess you had wanted to make me a part of your team?" the shinx asked. "Oh, I'm Bolt, by the way!"

Muffin forced himself not to attack the shinx. _Sweet Arceus, is she blind or is she just dumb?_ He brushed his bangs over his left eye. "To answer your question, you kinda used me as a stepping stool. And it's Muffin."

"What!?" The shinx's face went completely red. "I am _really_ sorry! I was trying to catch up with a fletchling. From the looks of it, you were trying to do the same with a litleo?"

Muffin groaned to himself. He just wanted to be alone. He didn't want to be with any other Pokémon. He just wanted to become the champion by himself. He didn't need anyone else. Was that too much to ask? "Something like that. Is there anything wrong with that?"

"N-No, not at all." Bolt smiled. "I just noticed her running from where you were when-"

A pillar of fire blasted in the distance. A loud growl could be heard, as well as the whimpering of another Pokémon. A small burst of fire flew by and hit Muffin firmly on the side. He cringed from the burn of the flame. Muffin got up and shook the embers out of his fur.

"Come on!" Bolt jumped up. "Someone is being attacked. We need to help!"

However, Muffin was two steps ahead of her, as he had a Shadow Ball forming rather quickly. He wasn't going to work with another Pokémon, and he definitely wasn't letting himself be ordered around by someone else.

As soon as he released the Shadow Ball, he realized he had made a mistake. It was only when he released it that he saw his target: the litleo he had tried to battle before, who was impervious to Ghost-type attacks. The Shadow Ball landed and burst near a group of weedle, who scurried away in fright.

"Keep back the litleo, I'll help the froakie!" he heard Bolt call.

Muffin huffed. "You don't need to tell me what to do," he replied, rolling his eyes.

Deep down, he knew that it was his fault that this was happening, but he didn't care. If it weren't for that hyperactive shinx, the litleo wouldn't have been enraged, the froakie wouldn't have gotten in trouble, and he would have gotten some experience. The way he saw things, this was all her fault.

He swiftly charged at the litleo, slamming his body into her. The litleo spat a cluster of embers at him in response. The embers created a flame on Muffin's tail. As he tried to whip the fire out of his tail, the litleo slammed her body into him.

Muffin growled, the flames on his tail burning with every second, and used Quick Attack once more. The litleo fled into the forest, seeming to have finally gotten the message. Muffin's legs ached more than he had known before, and his flaming tail stung with every second. He knew that he should have picked up some Rawst Berries while he was at the shop. He turned to Bolt and the froakie, who was now freed from Fire Spin.

"Thank you, guys! Thank you!" The froakie cried.

"You're welcome!" Bolt said. "I'm Bolt, and this is Muffin. We're each starting our own teams!"

"Cool! I'm Kiki!" The froakie said cheerfully. "Do you think I could join one of you?"

"Take your pick!" Bolt offered happily.

Muffin, on the other hand, was not eager to have the Water type on his team, or anything related to that substance for that matter. He remembered it all too well, and how it would immediately flow painfully into his nose and mouth whenever he gasped for breath, and how it would sting his eyes when he couldn't close them in time.

"I-I think that you should just s-stick with her…" he mumbled, his fur standing on end.

Kiki tilted her head. "How come?" she asked.

Muffin noticed that he was shaking; his whole body was, for that matter, and his back had been arched. He immediately stood up straight. It was nothing anyone else needed to know about, especially these Pokémon.

"You're scared of fire from the looks of it, even though you're strong against it," he huffed. "I don't think someone like that would be a helpful partner."

Muffin turned around and began his walk back to Aquacorde Town. He winced as the flames licked his tail. Of course, the first status-healing item he would need, and he didn't think to buy it. He entered the small town and entered one of the shops.

"Need Rawst Berries," he muttered, placing a few coins onto the table.

"That burn looks pretty bad," the cherrim at the counter pointed out as she pulled out a small pouch filled with berries. "Did you make a litleo mad or something? I suppose they can be a little aggressive. Be glad you weren't a leafeon yet."

"Yet…" Muffin rolled his eyes. Him, a leafeon? "Of course…"

"Well, it never hurts to prepare for any situation," she said, handing him the pouch. "You never know what'll happen to you out there. It surprises me that so many Pokémon prefer the wild."

Muffin took the pouch, not responding to her. _She talks like this is nothing new,_ he thought as he left the shop and headed for Santalune Forest. _Is it really that common for something like that to happen?_ He was so used to his old lab, as horrid as it was, where everything was controlled. The only surprises there were related to the, ugh… _experiment._ If it was common enough for the Pokémon in such an isolated place as Aquacorde to know about it, then it was probably something he should prepare for.

Muffin approached the forest's entrance, finishing a fresh Rawst Berry. In front of him was a whole new world, a reality he had never seen before in his life. He inhaled deeply, and walked into the forest.

* * *

 **Well, there's that! I hope this was a good first chapter. It's funny, this version is actually twice as long as Bolt's version. xD**

 **I know that Bolt and Muffin's stories are fairly similar thus far, but as the storyline progresses, Bolt won't see much of Muffin, and vice versa.**

 **Also, for those of you who were wondering: I choose not to capitalize the species' names because it makes specifying things easier.**

 **Muffin belongs to my good friend Squishy Blue,**

 **Bolt belongs to me,**

 **And Kiki belongs to chimpy888**

 **If you were confused at any part, or would like more context, read Bolt's side of the story; that should clear some things up!**


	2. Training Through Santalune Forest

Muffin entered the dark shade of Santalune Forest. He passed Bolt and Kiki, who were busy observing the large trees of the forest. He ran into the tall grass to avoid conversation with the two Pokémon.

As soon as he entered the tall grass, however, a series of thin needles fired at him in rapid succession. He winced at the piercing needles against his side, and used his tail to whip a few Pin Missiles out of the way.

He looked up at the source of the Pin Missiles to see a scatterbug, held in the air by a pidgey. He charged a Shadow Ball and fired at the scatterbug. Before the scatterbug could be hit, the pidgey dove toward the ground and slammed into him with his wings.

Muffin hit the ground, growling at the pidgey and scatterbug. _They're working together?_ he thought. _Do Pokémon really go so in-depth with their strategies like this?_ The scatterbug fired a thin, sticky thread that wrapped around him like rope.

Muffin fell to the ground, unable to get up. Looking somewhere above him, the scatterbug shot another thread at something else. Nearby, he heard a familiar-sounding yelp, and the scatterbug fired again. A shinx with a light green bandana around her neck leaped forward and slammed into the pidgey with Spark.

Muffin scowled. _Bolt._

As the scatterbug fell to the ground, she fired at Bolt with Pin Missile. Bolt struggled to stay on her feet. Muffin glared and wriggled out of the String Shot that bound him.

As soon as he was free, he fired a Shadow Ball at the scatterbug. Bolt looked over at him as she pushed herself off the ground. He began to charge another Shadow Ball when the pidgey darted forward like an arrow, grabbed Muffin by the scruff, and flew in the air. Muffin, very ticked off by the situation, chose that moment to fire his Shadow Ball.

Unfortunately, it did nothing, due to the pidgey being part Normal-type.

Bolt rammed into the pidgey after releasing Kiki. The scatterbug was stumbling under confusion, caused by Kiki's Water Pulse. With one more Shadow Ball, Muffin finished off the scatterbug. He checked to make sure Bolt had really defeated the pidgey.

Muffin huffed. He already wasn't fond of these two Pokémon. It was even worse that they seemed to follow him wherever he went. "You know, I _can_ take care of myself."

Bolt growled slightly in annoyance. "You were outnumbered two to one!" she shot back.

Rather than arguing with the shinx, Muffin simply raised his tail up high. It was much easier not to start an argument, not to mention much less time-consuming. "I find my ways," he said calmly. "If it weren't for those two, I would have made it out more than an hour ago."

"Knowing the size of this forest, there are probably more like them," Bolt replied. "Maybe we should stick together."

Muffin's ears went back. "Are you kidding me? With _her?"_ He pointed at Kiki with one paw. If there was one thing he loathed, it was water. He hated water more than anything, even more than those annoying caterpie back home, even more than Bolt. To have to work with someone that summoned water at will was another matter entirely.

"You barely even know her! And besides, everyone else in this forest probably has their own teams going."

Muffin thought for a long time. She was right about one thing: there were probably going to be many more Pokémon in this forest, some of them with teams. He had trouble fighting a team of two, and there were possibly larger teams waiting. "Fine," he decided.

Bolt smiled. "Great," she cheered. "Hold on just a sec." Bolt reached into her bag. As she was searching, Muffin gave a warning growl to Kiki, who backed away. He wanted to make sure that she didn't try to attack him. Bolt then gripped a blue fruit with a thick rind in her teeth and passed it to Muffin. "Here, eat this."

Muffin looked at the Oran Berry in mild surprise. "Why?"

"Are you kidding?" Bolt grinned happily. "After a tough battle like that, do you expect everyone to make it through the forest without full health?"

Muffin was grateful for the gift. Though, why she didn't just tell him to eat one of his own was beyond him. He rolled his eyes, not in annoyance, but rather to hide his gratitude.

"Sure," he huffed, eating the Oran Berry. "Look, we'd better get going," he said. "It's starting to get dark, and we're closer to Santalune City than we are to our own homes. And there aren't any hotels in Aquacorde Town."

Bolt nodded. "You're right. We'd better get going."

The three Pokémon proceeded through the forest as dusk fell over them. They were all quiet, except for Bolt, who tried to make conversation as they traveled. Eventually, she fell quiet as well. To keep themselves as healthy as possible, they didn't get into any battles unless confronted by other Teams; fortunately, this didn't happen too often.

As Muffin, Bolt, and Kiki wandered through the tall grass in the maze-like forest, larger and larger patches of moonlight became visible as they shone on the dirt pathway. Muffin perked his ears up, and Bolt began to run toward the forest's exit.

Kiki looked up as Bolt bounded toward the exit. "Hey, wait!" The female froakie proceeded to hop after Bolt.

"She really needs to calm down…" Muffin muttered. He ran after Bolt and Kiki.

"Come on, guys!" Bolt called back. "It's not that much further to Santalune City!"

An unknown voice suddenly spoke. "Maybe, or maybe not. I personally think you three newbies may have a trip back to Aquacorde."

"Who said that?" Kiki asked.

Bolt looked around. "I'm not sure."

The voice spoke again. "If you're going to try to defeat the gym's team, you'll need to be able to get past us!" A Pansear then leaped off of a tree and landed in front of them, followed by a Pansage and a Panpour.

Muffin scowled in frustration. "Because that's _just_ what we need!"

" _Muffin!"_ Bolt hissed.

"Well," the Fire type of the trio said, "we've heard that you three defeated Pidge and Scatters. You should be proud of yourselves. They're the second strongest team in the forest. But if you want to have any chance against the gym, you're going to need to be able to defeat us."

Muffin wasn't in the mood to do any more battling until they left the forest. He bent his legs as he prepared to sprint past them with Quick Attack. If they tried to get in his way, he would slam into them, so they'd get hurt.

He was about to sprint past when Bolt said, "We accept your challenge!"

"What!?" Muffin protested. "I just agreed to get through the forest, and that's it!"

"Muffin," Bolt told him, "we _can't_ get through the forest if we can't get past this team."

Muffin held his ears back. " _Fine."_

As soon as he finished his sentence, a swarm of sharp leaves flew at them. Bolt and Muffin were buffeted by the Razor Leaf. As Bolt struggled to get up, Muffin jumped up from the ground. As Kiki went after Pansage with Quick Attack, he turned toward Pansear. He began to charge his Shadow Ball. However, he was hit with a burst of fire before he could finish charging.

He glared at the pansear, about to launch the Shadow Ball, when Bolt leaped over and bit the pansear, electricity crackling from her teeth. When the pansear flinched, Muffin released his Shadow Ball at him.

Muffin turned toward Bolt. Maybe she wasn't so bad after all. She was annoying, no doubt, but she was a helpful ally to have… just for a little while, though. He smiled at the blue Pokémon; half of his face was covered with fur, so he figured it wouldn't be noticeable to her.

Kiki finished off the pansage with her Quick Attack.

"Well, _finally,"_ Muffin sighed, stretching out.

"We'd better get to Santalune. It's really late," Kiki stated.

"You're right. We should get going," Bolt replied.

"You two go on," Muffin said. "I'm going to stay up and look around for any items."

Bolt waved. "Alright," she cheered. "Make sure not to stay up too late!"

Muffin huffed. "I can take care of myself."

"Right. Sorry," Bolt sighed. "Well, maybe I'll see you tomorrow. Bye!"

Muffin flicked his tail. His only response to them was, "Farewell."

The two female Pokémon waved goodbye to Muffin and left for Santalune City. Muffin exited the forest, glad to feel the gentle touch of the moonlight.

He stepped into Ouvert Way (or what the humans referred to as "Route 3"), and began searching the route for berries or other useful items dropped by other Pokémon. He searched the tall grass, the path, as well as every nook and cranny in which he could fit. When he finished scouting the area for items, he ended up with a few Figy Berries, a Chople Berry, and a blue ring of some kind (he also found a TM for Charge Beam, but he left that where he found it).

He took out two Oran Berries and took a bite. He had nothing else to do there. All he had left to do in that area was defeat the Santalune Gym Leader. He knew that the only way to beat the champion would be to defeat all the gyms. What the first gym held for him was a mystery. All he knew was that it was a test of strength for those who wanted to be the strongest.

Muffin finished his Oran Berries and stood up. He had prepared as well as he could. Now it was time for him to fight the gym. He stepped into Santalune City, ready for his first gym battle.

* * *

 **And it's done! Again, I apologize for this having a mostly familiar plotline; when you do two separate stories for the two main characters, that tends to happen when they meet up.**

 **Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this one!**


	3. Educational Filler

**I'm back again! Unlike the first two chapters, this one won't have much of Bolt or Kiki (if they'll show up at all). It may be different than what you're used to so far, but that's how I intended this to be.**

* * *

Muffin looked around at the small city he had just entered. All around him, the lights of the buildings beamed through the windows, creating the illusion of stars around him; the only thing that told him they were buildings were the two lampposts behind the fence.

However, his mind was set on one thing, and one thing only: his very first gym battle, against the Santalune City gym.

Santalune City was a fairly small place, with not much going on. Its most notable feature (besides the gym) was the fountain: a stone roselia standing atop a stone flower with water pouring out of its (the statue depicted a male, but Muffin felt weird gendering a statue) flower hands.

Muffin turned to the right, past the fountain, and walked into the gym. The inside of the gym was a gallery, with many large photos mounted to the wall.

He walked up to a large, square-shaped hole in the ground that was on the other side of the room; hanging above this hole was a small hammock, apparently made from ariados' silk, just large enough to comfortably fit a single Pokémon. Muffin climbed inside of the small hammock, which slowly lowered him down into a dark room with a large web.

Muffin traversed across each large thread with surprising ease. He only had to fight one team, consisting of a volbeat and illumise; all the other teams were asleep. He slipped a couple Oran Berries into his mouth as he reached the gym team.

"Oh, hello," said the vivillon that was apparently captain of the team. "May I help you?"

"Are you new at this job?" Muffin rolled his eyes. "What do you think I'm here for?"

A surskit off to the side, with a purple nightcap on his head, pushed himself off the ground. "Please tell me you're not serious," he yawned. "At this hour?"

"It _is_ pretty late," the vivillon agreed. "In fact, we were just about to close for the night."

"Are you _serious?"_ Muffin groaned. "I just got here!"

"If you wanted to battle, maybe you should have gotten here earlier," the surskit mumbled irritably, rubbing his tired eyes.

"Don't blame him for not getting here earlier. Santalune Forest is like your average cave with how competitive everyone is." The vivillon thought for a moment. "The bad news is you'll have to wait to battle until tomorrow. I probably can't convince Surskit here to agree to a battle."

Surskit shrugged (somehow). "Hey, I value my sleep, Tulip."

"Fortunately," the Vivillon named Tulip continued, "we recently built a hotel here in Santalune City that you can stay in, since not every Pokémon can afford one of the expensive hotels in Lumiose, and not every Pokémon is comfortable sleeping outside like natural Pokémon. It's free to get a room, and it's the same building as the Pokémon School, so you can learn some new things while you stay there."

Muffin paused. It occurred to him that the most he knew about battling was what he heard from the neighbors' rumors and stories they saw on television (with Vaniville Town being so small, such topics of discussion spread easily). He had no grasp on type matchups other than the basic "Grass-Fire-Water cycle" that all Pokémon learn; he had used Shadow Ball on Normal types at least twice since he started his journey. It's not like there was much opportunity to battle in such a small place. It was a wonder that he reached Level 10 at all.

Although reluctantly, Muffin agreed to stay in the hotel until he beat the Gym Leader. Tulip led him to a staircase which led him into a dark hall, and eventually to the main lobby.

Muffin exited the building. As he walked down the brick path to the hotel, his ears picked up the sound of conversation.

"...Don't forget to… and keep your posture straight so…"

"...I'll be fine. Just because…out of practice doesn't mean… They won't suspect a thing!"

"Be _quiet_ or someone will hear us!"

"Oh, you're one to…"

Muffin shook his head and kept walking. He didn't care enough to keep listening to something that probably had nothing to do with him. He had no real benefit to eavesdropping on someone else's conversation. He would have been better off if he just kept walking.

There was something that struck him as particularly odd, though. "They won't suspect a thing" was a rather odd thing to hear in such a small town, and it rarely meant anything good. Nonetheless, he had no reason to ponder it; it probably wouldn't affect him in any way.

He got to the hotel within four minutes of leaving the gym (it would have taken him less than two minutes had he not gotten distracted). He entered the hotel and walked past the school desks and up to the counter. A butterfree napped atop the counter, one wing spread wide over her head.

Muffin nudged the butterfree's wing. "Hey, I need-"

The butterfree woke with a start, but she was by no means a normal butterfree. There were many aspects that were like a caterpie: she had the wide, yellow eyes of a caterpie, she had a columned tail shaped and designed exactly like a caterpie's, her hands and feet were a pale yellow, and she had one antenna which split into two antennae in a wide V-shape.

Muffin yelped and jumped back, eyes wide with shock. His first thought was that it was a costume, but it made no sense for her to be in costume. _Did she maybe evolve too early?_ Muffin thought to himself. The butterfree-like creature seemed not to notice his surprised reaction.

"Thank you for waking me up! I'm not used to working the night shift. Sorry about that."

Muffin looked up and down at the creature. "Excuse me, but what _are_ you?"

"I'm a fusion, but we're not here to talk about that," The butterfree said, dismissively waving her tiny hand. "We're adding a passage on it tomorrow, so you can read about it then. I'm assuming you want a room?"

Muffin nodded, wondering how the apparent "fusion" could be so casual about such a topic. She handed a hotel pass to the confused eevee. Muffin took the pass and eventually located his room on the top floor.

He entered the room and climbed on top of the soft bed, large enough for over thirty eevee to fit on top. Muffin was unaware of how exhausted he was before he laid down. He felt as though gravity had suddenly intensified on his body, weighing him down on the bed. It wasn't long before Muffin had drifted off. It had been a long day for the tiny Pokémon, after all.

* * *

Muffin covered his eyes to block the bright sunlight that seeped through the curtains. He rolled over to look at the time; it was 7:39, according to the neon red symbols on the small, boxy clock. He pushed himself out of the bed and walked down the stairs.

Walking downstairs, he entered the main lobby, where a bunch of desks stood in front of a blackboard mounted on the wall. The chairs of the desk faced away from their respective desks, making it easier for Pokémon to climb on top. On top of (almost) every desk was a sheet of paper, laminated and taped to the surface. A few teams were looking at the sheets of paper on the desk while others read the writing on the blackboard. There was a small crowd around one particular desk.

Muffin walked around the room, reading as he went. As he went, he learned the five main status conditions, the definitions of the main battle statistics, most type matchups, and even basic examples of Abilities, along with many other topics.

Just as he approached the last desk, he noticed Bolt and Kiki walking out the door. He sighed and his ears went back. It seemed that he would have to kill some extra time while he waited for their gym battle to end.

Muffin noticed the last sheet of paper had the word "FUSION" as a title. The butterfree/caterpie fusion had said that there would be something about fusion added to the lobby. He pushed past the crowd of Pokémon and read the passage on the sheet of paper:

" _FUSION_

" _A Pokémon fusion, also known as a 'splicer', is a special kind of Pokémon that is created when the DNA Splicers are used on two Pokémon other than Kyurem and Reshiram or Zekrom. Kyurem-White and Kyurem-Black are often debated about whether they are splicers or not, though many scientists agree that they do not count as splicers, as they do not have the added typing of Reshiram and Zekrom, respectively. It is unknown if more than two Pokémon can be involved in a fusion._

" _Unlike with its intended use (fusing Kyurem with either Reshiram or Zekrom), this process of fusing two other Pokémon is irreversible thus far. Professor Hakea of the Kalos region is researching ways to reverse this process. After many studies, Hakea has discovered the following:_

" _All typings from the two original Pokémon will be included in the fusion. For example, if a chesnaught and delphox were to be fused, the fusion's typing would be Grass/Fighting/Fire/Psychic. This is the only possible way for a Pokémon to have more than two types. If the two Pokémon share a type, they will not stack with each other. For example, if a butterfree and a beedrill were fused together, the fusion's typing would be Bug/Flying/Poison, not Bug/Bug/Flying/Poison._

" _A fusion may evolve, but only if both fused Pokémon are capable of evolution. Only one Pokémon needs to meet the conditions to evolve in order for the fusion to evolve, making a (theoretical) underleveled Pokémon possible. If a fusion evolves, both of the fused Pokémon evolve as well; Hakea was led to this conclusion when she found that a fusion between a lotad and a bronzor evolved and had the features (and appearance) of both a lombre and a bronzong. When the fusion made contact with a Water Stone, there was no reaction, even though lombre normally evolve through this method. Hakea replicated the experiment with a fusion between a servine and a venipede and got the same result; no matter how hard they tried, the whirlipede half of the fusion could not evolve into scolipede._

" _More information will come in the future."_

Muffin finished reading the passage and left the building. It was likely that Bolt and Kiki were still finishing their gym battle, so he headed to Parterre Way instead.

The first thing that he noticed about the route was that it was peaceful. Unlike with Santalune Forest, there were no Pokémon jumping out to challenge him to a battle, and all the Pokémon were casually talking with each other in small groups. A budew merely greeted him as she passed by.

Up ahead, he heard enraged shouting, though it was hard not to hear them over the relaxed chatter of the other Pokémon. He passed the large fountain, staying as far away as he could and reached the end of the road. In front of the large entrance to Lumiose City was a barbaracle using Protect as a houndour-like Pokémon jumped at him with Thunder Fang.

"Let me in, Barbaracle!" the strange Pokémon shouted as he attacked the barbaracle. "I need to get to the lab!"

"I told you," Barbaracle said as he tossed the Pokémon back, "There has been a blackout in Lumiose City. No one is allowed in."

"You _liar!"_ The Pokémon snarled as he formed a pillar of fire around Barbaracle. "Only machamp are allowed to guard the entrance!"

"I was told to guard the entrance, so that's what I'm doing." He tossed the Pokémon back.

Muffin began to form a Shadow Ball. The ruckus was a bit bothersome, not to mention that this was his one chance to do any training on this route. Once he decided the Shadow Ball was at its largest, he fired it at Barbaracle. Unfortunately, Barbaracle barely seemed bothered by the attack.

He turned to Muffin. "You too? There's no reason for you to go there."

Before Muffin could explain why he was battling as well, Barbaracle swung two of his four arms at the houndour-like Pokémon, almost instantly knocking it out. Just as he noticed the Pokémon had been knocked out, he felt two hands slamming against his spine. The light on his Capture Beam went red as Muffin went unconscious.

* * *

 **Well, this chapter took a while to write. Hey, protip, if you want to discover hidden talent, become a writer; you'll find ways to procrastinate that you never thought possible. Actually, ignore that. You'll start procrastinating on other stuff, too.**

 **So, yeah, long chapter- six pages on my document. Mainly because I'm trying to add a little more description since stuff has changed from the Pokémon owning the place and stuff. Also, Bolt is about as observant as a brick, so she doesn't exactly notice many things. So I guess it's unintentionally clever writing. xD**

 **Welp, I gotta give credit where credit is due!**

 **Muffin belongs to Squishy Blue,**

 **the Houndour fusion belongs to nicranger,**

 **Kiki belongs to chimpy888,**

 **all the Pokémon and places belong to the Pokémon Company and Game Freak,**

 **and the other OCs present belong to me.**

 **Whew, that was a lot of crediting to do. Can't wait until there's some showdown between Bolt and Muffin's full teams. xD**

 **Until next time!**


	4. One Down, Seven to Go

**I'm back and still alive! But is Muffin okay? What about the mysterious Pokémon? Will Barbaracle come back in the future? If you've read the back of nearly any novel ever, then you probably know that the answer to all of these is yes. xD**

 **Anyway, on to the story!**

* * *

Muffin lay on what felt like a solid board with his eyes closed. It was stiff like a board, but there was enough cushioning on it to make it comfortable. It was comfortable enough to rest on, at least for a little while. There was a bright light above him, as well as the soft hum of machinery.

 _Wait,_ he thought. This almost felt familiar.

 _Too_ familiar.

Muffin woke with a start and leaped off of the cushioned board. He knew the feeling all too well. If this place was what he thought it was…

Fortunately, this wasn't the place; this place looked much different. The walls were a soft orange, and there were no cages. Around him were a bunch of other Pokémon, both unconscious and starting to wake up, also on beds.

"Be careful!" One Pokémon hissed. It was a farfetch'd, which had apparently just woken up. "Not all of these Pokémon are fully healed yet. Do you want anyone getting hurt?"

"How else are you supposed to react to randomly waking up in a place you've never been?" Muffin shot back. "...And what do you mean 'healed?'"

"Right." The farfetch'd rolled its eyes. "You're new. Typical of Kalos Pokémon, I suppose. You come here when your health is low, and you can get it filled back up for free." He hopped out of his bed. "Anyway, since you're fully healed now, you should probably pack up and go." Muffin flicked his tail dismissively at the farfetch'd, and left the room.

As he left the Pokémon Center, he remembered the odd Pokémon at the end of Parterre Way. Where was he? He definitely had the features of a houndour, but he also had two fins on his back, almost like a carvanha. Could he have been a fusion? Well, whatever happened probably didn't matter now. What mattered right now was getting his first gym badge. It was already the afternoon, and he didn't want to have to wait another day before proceeding.

He took two turns to reach the Santalune Gym (the area was fairly small, hardly worth being called a city). Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Bolt and Kiki run past in the direction of Ouvert Way. _If they're headed that way, then they probably haven't defeated the gym,_ Muffin thought to himself as he walked inside.

* * *

"Oh, you're back. I wondered when you would be."

Muffin walked up to the vivillon. "Well, I'm here for one thing, and one thing only."

"Of course." Tulip nodded. "Why else would you be here? So, without further ado, shall we get started?"

Muffin fired a Shadow Ball at her. "Gladly."

He leaped up into the air to dodge Surskit's incoming Quick Attack, only to be hit by Tulip's Tackle. He fell to the ground, landing right in front of another Quick Attack. After running to a safe part of the arena, he began to charge his Shadow Ball. This time there was no risk of it not affecting his opponent, since neither of them were Normal types. He swiftly dodged another Tackle from Tulip, and fired his Shadow Ball at her. Muffin smirked with satisfaction, only to see that she shook it off without much second thought.

The Gym Leader smiled back at him, and fired a swarm of insects. Muffin began to charge his Shadow Ball again, recoiling at the biting pain of the Infestation. He was about to fire it when a small flurry of bubbles came his way. He yelped and ducked, his tail wagging back and forth. Once he was sure they were gone, he looked up to see the two opponents giving him a sympathetic look. Muffin sneered, and zipped at Surskit with Quick Attack. The surskit slammed against the wall and began to push himself up. Out of the corner of his eye, Muffin could see Tulip's skin thickening and hardening.

"A very good tactic," she said. "However, you need to keep in mind that a strong opponent may have a way to work around them, or undo them altogether."

Muffin winced at the Infestation as he began to think of a plan. Surskit, with his lowered Defense could be defeated in two more hits at the most, but Tulip, his biggest concern, still had most of her health left.

Surskit slammed into him with another Quick Attack. Muffin leaped onto his feet and did the same. The Pond Skater Pokémon slid across the hardwood floor, too exhausted and battle-damaged to keep fighting. That was one Pokémon down. Now he just had to deal with Tulip. Surviving long enough to take her down was also proving to be difficult.

He shook off the last of the Infestation and began to charge his Shadow Ball. However, the Gym Leader launched another Infestation at the tiny Pokémon. He jumped out of the way and fired the Shadow Ball. He pulled out an Oran Berry and stuffed it into his mouth as Tulip got up from the critical hit.

"I must say, you've made it further than I expected." She smiled. "If you managed to win, though, I'd be rather impressed, considering you're just by yourself."

Muffin narrowed his eyes and charged forward with another Quick Attack. This seemed to be a much more effective move to use; he had his Ability to thank for that. Tulip slammed into him with Tackle once more.

He struggled to push himself up. He felt exhausted, as though a single hit would take him out if he wasn't careful. Muffin sped forward, hitting Tulip with one last Quick Attack.

To his gratitude, this was just enough to finally take her out. Tulip weakly lifted herself into the air.

"Well, congratulations," she said. "You just beat your first gym! That must feel good, huh?"

Muffin gave a small nod. It felt even more rewarding than he thought it would. Tulip walked over to a large crate and handed a small token to him.

"Take this. It's your gym badge. Equip it to your Capture Beam, and you'll be notified if an opponent is higher level than you or your partners. I honestly don't see why everyone doesn't have a Capture Beam already; they're really worth the money. Here, take this exit."

Muffin took the badge and pinned it onto his Capture Beam. He nodded farewell to Tulip and Surskit, and began to climb up the stairs. As he climbed up, he stuffed two Oran Berries into his mouth. There was no reason to wait until tomorrow to go to the next city. Parterre Way was fairly peaceful, so he didn't have to worry about being attacked by others.

* * *

"Thank you for choosing Hotel Richissime. We hope you enjoy your night."

Muffin, about to collapse with exhaustion, nodded and gave a small "Mm-hm." He crawled into the elevator, holding himself up off the ground with one paw, and rose to his room's floor. He found his way to his hotel room and climbed on top of his bed. He looked at the digital clock; it read 12:36. He let out a heavy sigh and drifted off almost instantly.

* * *

 **Welp, I'm finally done. So, Muffin has now defeated the Santalune Gym, and has made his way to Lumiose City!**

 **Now that I've caught up with Bolt's side of the story, the two are going to be updated at the same time as one another. That means that updates will be much slower than they already were, and I'm sorry about that.**

 **Anyway, Muffin belongs to Squishy Blue,**

 **Kiki belongs to chimpy888,**

 **Wrath belongs to nicranger,**

 **And Bolt and any others belong to me**

 **Well, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I'll try to write a little more frequently!**


	5. One Broke Eevee!

Muffin lifted his head off of the large, fluffy pillow and yawned. He turned his head to the digital clock, which read 10:23. Hopping down from the smaller of the two beds, he stretched out his legs and crawled down the hall to the elevator.

Muffin noticed that he felt calmer after that night. Maybe he was just missing a good night's rest, or maybe it had something to do with him winning his first gym battle last night. Or maybe it was just that he hadn't talked to anyone that day yet. Who knows?

He was about to leave when he heard a gardevoir call to him from behind the counter.

"Excuse me," she said. "You need to pay your rental fee." It came as a surprise to Muffin that a hotel had a rental fee, but he figured it made sense, given the luxury of the rooms provided. He walked over to the counter and hopped on top of the stool provided.

"So, how much does it cost to stay for one night?" he asked, reaching into his bag.

"¥25,000."

Muffin nearly slipped off of the stool. He regained his balance and stared at the gardevoir, hoping for any sign of sarcasm or a joke. "Twenty...f-f-five… _thousand…?"_

Gardevoir nodded, keeping a straight face.

"Do you- Do you really expect a _kid_ to have that much money!?"

"Um…" Gardevoir frowned. "If you want, I can see what the manager can do," she mumbled. "It's not like this is the first time something like this has happened."

"That would probably be best, considering I have no way of paying this whole thing off," Muffin replied. He watched Gardevoir enter another room behind the counter. A few minutes later, she returned with a machamp by her side.

The machamp spoke in a gruff voice. "So, ya came here late at night, didja?"

Muffin nodded.

"And ya didn't realize that you had to pay to stay in Hotel Richissime?"

Muffin nodded.

"And you don't have enough money to pay it off, do ya?"

Muffin nodded once again.

"What do you think we should do, Machamp?"

Muffin looked up at the much taller Machamp who seemed to be staring down at him. He soon realized that Machamp wasn't looking at him, but he was looking inside of Muffin's bag.

"Is that the Bug Badge ya got there?"

"Yeah," Muffin replied, not too comfortable with having someone looking inside his bag. "Why?"

Machamp clapped two of his muscular hands together, which echoed through the whole room. "I got the perfect solution! You can lend us a hand!"

"I can do what now?"

"Well, ya see," Machamp said, rubbing one hand on the back of his neck, "we've gotten a lot of complaints about Pokémon losing their stuff. We've told 'em to check the lost and found, but they say they still can't find what they're lookin' for.

"Some of 'em are sayin' that they've been stolen. The more we look, the more we're startin' to think that's true. But I don't want anyone thinking that we're the ones who've been nickin' their things. And, the way I see it, you havin' that gym badge makes you more qualified than me to be searchin' for thieves, not to mention you can fit in more places.

"So, if you can find the one responsible for all this missing stuff, then I'll let you leave here free of charge. What do ya say?"

Muffin nodded, knowing that he had no other option. "Fine."

"We've made ourselves a deal, then. That's good to hear! Good luck finding that thief!"

Muffin hopped off of the stool and began searching the hotel. He knew that he wasn't too likely to find any thieves in the daytime, but it didn't hurt to check. He went onto each floor and checked any small space he could find; he crawled underneath beds, chairs, benches, and tables, behind TV stands and wardrobes, in the hardest-to-reach corners, and anywhere else he could think someone could be hiding.

* * *

The time was 9:13 PM. As Muffin was checking beneath a bright fuchsia-colored table, he overheard someone talking to Gardevoir.

"…With Arceus as my witness, I was _holding_ that Shell Bell in my own paws ten minutes ago! When I set it down, it was gone!"

"Did you check the lost and found, Ms. Cinccino?

"You bet I did! It wasn't there either! I'm telling you, someone nabbed it!"

"Please try not to worry, Ms. Cinccino. We'll find your Shell Bell as soon as we can."

"You'd better, or I'm gonna sue!"

Muffin pulled himself out from underneath the table and saw Gardevoir walking up to him.

"Did you find anything?"

"Nothing." Muffin shook his head. "Do you know what floor the cinccino was on?"

"Uh, yeah," she replied, walking back behind the counter and looking at the computer screen on top. "…Ah, here. Her room is on the third-"

"Got it," Muffin said, sprinting to the elevator.

As soon as he reached the third floor, he began another, more thorough search of the floor. He kept a close eye in case anything moved; whether it was someone walking down the hall or an air conditioner blowing against a curtain, he made sure to check what it was.

A few more hours passed; it was 12:40 AM. Muffin forced himself to keep his eyes open. If he fell asleep, then there would be more thefts that would go undetected. He crept down each hall, trying not to potentially alert the thief of his presence.

He walked in silence until, suddenly, he heard a faint rustling sound. Muffin looked into one of the hotel rooms to see something wriggling inside an unzipped backpack. He prepared to use his Shadow Ball. An espurr climbed out of the back, struggling to keep a hold on three round stones. Muffin and the espurr locked eyes with each other.

Before Muffin could fire his Shadow Ball, the espurr slapped her hands together, causing him to flinch. She jumped, landed on his back, and jumped off again, carrying the three stones with her. As soon as he was able to move again, Muffin sprinted after the espurr.

Seeing the espurr going into one elevator, Muffin sprinted to the other one. Upon reaching the ground floor, he noticed her running to one of the fuchsia tables. He caught up to her just as she lifted one of the floor tiles and slipped into the hole underneath. He kicked the tile out of the way and followed her down the hole.

On the other side was a large, dimly lit room. In one corner, there was a large pile of belongings, on top of which the espurr placed the three stones. In another corner were four other Pokémon: a glameow, a litleo, a luxio, and a purrloin.

"Really, Espurr?" Purrloin sighed. "Not a single one of us has a use for Mega Stones. You know that, right?"

"I know," Espurr mumbled. "I just thought they were pretty…"

"Yeah, you have no room to talk, Purrloin," Luxio scoffed. "You brought a Pretty Wing down here a few days ago, and you saw no one here complaining."

Glameow stood up. "Let's not worry about that right now. I think we should focus on our guest," she said, addressing Muffin.

Muffin glared at her. "Give everything back, now," he growled.

"Oh, get over yourself," Glameow laughed. "There's five of us, and only one of you. You've got no chance."

"That's what you think." Muffin fired a Shadow Ball at Espurr, nearly knocking her out. "I'm not letting either of you out of here unless you hand everything over."

Glameow narrowed her eyes. "Fine, then," she said. "If what you want is a battle, then we'll give you a battle. Attack!"

All at once, he felt four of the five Pokémon attacking him, Espurr with Fake Out again, Purrloin with Sucker Punch, Glameow with Super Fang, and Litleo with Take Down. Because of the flinching caused by Fake Out, Muffin couldn't do anything to counter these attacks. The Luxio used Eerie Impulse afterwards, making his Shadow Ball a much less reliable attack.

As soon as Muffin recovered from the flinch, he darted into Espurr with Quick Attack, knocking her out. Purrloin hit him with another Sucker Punch, and Muffin stuffed an Oran Berry into his mouth before he could be knocked out himself. Fortunately, Glameow had decided to use Hone Claws that time, and Luxio used another Eerie Impulse, further reducing his Special Attack stat. Litleo slammed into him once again with Take Down, damaging himself in the process.

Muffin prepared his Quick Attack once more, but instead decided to eat another Oran Berry. Because of this, Purrloin's attempt to use another Sucker Punch failed, and Litleo accidentally knocked himself out from Take Down's recoil. He was knocked down to his last bit of health by Glameow's Slash. Luxio didn't seem to realize this, and instead went for another Eerie Impulse.

Muffin ate two Oran Berries this time to restore himself to full health, and then went for another Quick Attack, this one aimed at Purrloin. Her Defense must have been very frail, since she was immediately knocked out. Glameow sank her fangs into Muffin once again, halving his HP. Luxio also sank in his fangs, but Muffin felt an icy cold coming from his teeth.

While Luxio was gathering electricity with Charge, Muffin noticed a small bag of White Herbs among the enormous pile of belongings. He darted over and slipped one into his mouth; he figured it didn't matter if he took just one, since there were many others in there. Besides, it was for the greater good; it would be worth it in the end. He prepared his Shadow Ball as Glameow attacked him with another Slash.

With his Special Attack stat back to normal, he fired a Shadow Ball at Luxio, nearly knocking him out. In turn, Luxio attacked him with a powerful Spark. Glameow slashed at him again. Muffin stuffed an Oran Berry into his mouth, and used Quick Attack to finish off Luxio.

"I was certainly not expecting this," Glameow mused. "You're rather impressive with that Shadow Ball, too. Unfortunately for you, it has no use against a Normal type like me. Besides, I'm at full health, and you've nearly run out of those Oran Berries of yours. It's over, and you know it."

Muffin narrowed his eyes and struck her with another Quick Attack. Before he could be hit by another Slash attack, he swallowed the last Oran Berry in his bag. Glameow's Slash landed a critical hit, nearly knocking him out. Muffin darted toward her with all his might, just barely knocking her out with one last Quick Attack.

Muffin panted. He ached all over, and he was close to fainting on the spot. He glanced at the large pile, and at the five feline Pokémon fainted on the ground. _Well,_ he thought, _I might as well let Machamp know I found everything._

* * *

Muffin, Machamp, and Gardevoir watched as everyone else in the hotel retrieved their lost items.

"Oh, my sweet Shell Bell! Imagine what my sister would have said, had I lost it!"

Muffin yawned. It was 3:58 AM, and he hadn't slept since he first woke up the morning before, not to mention having an intense battle against five other Pokémon.

"Welp, you certainly proved your might against those darned thieves down there," Machamp said. "I'm impressed."

Gardevoir nodded. "We really can't thank you enough. It must have been difficult."

Muffin looked up at the two taller Pokémon and nodded. "Yeah, it wasn't easy."

A blaziken suddenly walked over. "So, you're the one who got everything back?"

Muffin turned to the blaziken. "Uh, yeah, why?"

The blaziken reached into his backpack and handed Muffin one of the three stones which Espurr had stolen; it was primarily yellow with a blue and red streak in the middle. "I want you to take this as thanks."

Muffin took the stone and put it into his bag. "Why? What is it?"

"I have no one else to give this one to. To answer your question… well, I don't want to confuse you too much, but it has something to do with manectric. If you meet up with a friend of mine in Shalour City, he'll tell you something about it." With that, the blaziken left.

"What use do I have for this? Do I look like a manectric to him…?" Muffin muttered.

"Hm. Beats me," Machamp replied. "…Tell ya what. You look real tired. Why don't ya stay another night? You worked real hard today."

Muffin turned to Machamp. "Um," he mumbled. "Thanks, I guess…"

"My pleasure, kid. Hey, what's your name, anyway?"

"Uh, it's Muffin."

The muscular Pokémon roared with laughter. "I love it! Real fitting for a li'l guy like you. Gardevoir, please get Muffin here a room on the top floor."

"Right away, Machamp." She nodded. "Please come with me."

Muffin followed her up the elevator and entered one of the two suites on the top floor. He climbed atop the lower of the two beds and drifted off.

* * *

 **That's the end of this chapter! Sorry it took so long to update; my primary issue has been with writing Bolt's side of the story. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I tried to make Muffin a little less angry this time around, and make him more of an enjoyable protagonist.**

 **This one ended up being much longer than I expected a mostly filler chapter would be. However, it's not entirely filler, as you'd see if you read the end.**

 **Muffin belongs to Squishy Blue,**

 **Any other character present belong to me,**

 **And all Pokémon and locations belong to Game Freak and those other companies.**


	6. The Professor - Part 1

**Next chapter is here, after a long period of procrastination! Quick warning; This chapter will be split up into 2 parts because of the length, but it's also a story-relevant chapter.**

 **I may not be able to add the second one too soon, partially because of IRL stuff that may happen, partially because I wanna try and work on my other story, and partially because of who I am as a person. I'll try not to let it linger too long, though.**

* * *

Muffin opened his eyes and looked at the digital clock. It was 9:52 A.M. He knew that he probably should get back to his journey to defeat the gym leaders, but he didn't want to leave the comfort of his hotel room. It had thick curtains which blocked the sunlight, and there was nothing that came close to the comfort of the bed. He grunted and hopped down from the bed, grabbed his bag, and left the hotel room.

"Oh, are you heading out?" Gardevoir asked as he exited the elevator.

"Yeah," Muffin replied.

"Okay. If you don't want to have to walk, you can ask for a ride from the Gogoat Shuttle stop that's right outside; it's fairly cheap, and the gogoat have been navigating Lumiose City for years." She waved. "Goodbye, and thank you once again for helping us yesterday."

 _It's not like I had a choice in the matter,_ Muffin thought, but instead of saying this, he simply nodded and left the building.

He walked up to an electronic sign post which had an image of a gogoat at the top. When choosing his location, Muffin was about to choose the gym, but remembered that he would probably have to train, so instead he chose to go to Route 5.

Muffin didn't have to wait long before a gogoat arrived. She had a red and gold cloth over her back with the Gogoat Shuttle symbol on it, as well as a pouch that hung around her neck. The gogoat crouched down so that Muffin could hop on.

"The fee is ¥200, and you would like to be taken to Route 5 today. Is that correct?"

"Yeah," Muffin confirmed, and the gogoat began walking.

Muffin was glad that he had taken the Gogoat Shuttle, since he found that he reached the south boulevard of Lumiose City much faster than if he had decided to walk on his own. This was what Muffin liked: getting things done quickly. He didn't like wasting unnecessary time. He was going to reach Route 5 in a very short period of time, or he would have if not for…

"Oh, hi, Muffin!"

Muffin looked over Gogoat's side and saw Bolt waving up at him. Next to her, he recognized, was the houndour fusion that had been fighting the barbaracle when they first met. He was pleasantly surprised to see that Kiki was nowhere to be seen, but didn't bother asking about her absence.

"Oh, it's you again."

Muffin hopped down from Gogoat's back and paid the fee.

"Thank you," she said before running off.

"So, what have you been doing?" Bolt asked. "Did you get another Gym Badge? Did you add anyone to your team yet? Did you-"

"I've only gotten the one from Lumiose City, and no," Muffin interrupted before she could continue rambling. "All I've done here so far is track down a few thieves because I didn't have enough money to pay for my night at a hotel."

"It's a good thing you found some way to repay them. Hotel Richissime is anything but cheap," the houndour fusion said. "I'm Wrath, by the way. So, why did you choose Shadow Ball of all moves to learn? You don't see too many eevee running around with that move."

"I, uh…" Muffin lowered his ears. If there was one topic that he wanted to avoid at all costs, it was this one. Sure, he liked the move Shadow Ball, but the circumstances under which he learned them were anything but pleasant. "I would rather not talk about it."

Bolt tilted her head. "You two know each other?"

"More or less," Muffin replied, swiping his hair to one side of his face. "I was going to Parterre Way to train for the gym, I saw him fighting a barbaracle, it was my one chance to do any training there, so I tried to fight the barbaracle with him. If he told you anything about it, you'll probably know that it didn't go too well for either of us."

"Hence my reasoning for wanting to go to the Pokémon Lab." The houndour fusion named Wrath began to pace. "That barbaracle really wanted to keep me from entering the city for some reason, and I want to make sure no one there got hurt."

Muffin locked eyes with Bolt. She seemed different somehow. Sure, there was her annoying tendency to pop up wherever he was, yet oddly enough, this didn't bother him nearly as much as before. He was also surprised to find that she seemed much less annoying than before. It was almost as though he… _liked_ having her around?

"So, maybe you could come with us!" Bolt suddenly said.

Muffin was surprised at this offer, but agreed to come with the energetic shinx.

"Great!" Bolt replied.

Muffin noticed Kiki hopping toward them. He arched his back as his fur spiked up. Looked like this Water type wasn't gone after all.

While Bolt talked to Kiki, Muffin exchanged a glance with Wrath, who seemed confused at why he suddenly became tense when she arrived. Muffin shook his head, signifying that he would rather not talk about it.

Muffin and Kiki made eye contact for a fraction of a second, which was followed by Kiki falling silent. Bolt must have noticed this, since she gave them a small frown.

"Okay," Wrath said with a grin, "I think we're ready to go to the Pokémon Lab!" The four Pokémon continued walking (or hopping, in Kiki's case). "So while we're there, I have a couple other friends to introduce you to." Muffin assumed that he was talking more to Bolt than to him. "They're also Professor Hakea's assistants, and I really think you- Uh…"

When the four of them had arrived at the Pokémon Lab, there was a Pokémon standing-or floating, rather-in front of the entrance. It was almost like a sableye, but he floated above the ground, his legs nowhere to be seen, and his hands, which were held behind his back, were detached from the rest of his armless body. Additionally, his body seemed to be split in half with two different colors: His left half was purple, like a normal sableye, and the other half was a more bluish purple, with a somewhat blueish glow to it. He also had spiky fur sticking out from his head, much like a haunter.

Annoyed by the fusion blocking the entrance, Muffin prepared to use his Shadow Ball. He would have minded a bit less if the fusion was somewhere else, but did he _have_ to be right in front of the door? He let the Shadow Ball fade when Wrath spoke.

"Um, excuse me," Wrath said to the fusion. "My friends and I are trying to go in there, but you're in the-"

"You are a fusion, right?" the fusion interrupted without turning to look at them. "A houndour who has been fused with Carvanha, I assume?"

Muffin exchanged a glance with Bolt; she and Kiki seemed just as confused by this whole thing as he was.

"Yeah…" Wrath mumbled. "I'm sorry, but could you please-"

"Do you like being a fusion? Do you feel as though it helps you? Makes you… greater?"

Muffin was starting to get irritated at this point. "Okay, look," he said. "Who are you, and why are you-"

"Answer the question."

They hadn't even talked to the fusion for thirty seconds, and Muffin already felt as though something was off with this Pokémon. For some reason, he just seemed to give off bad vibes. Sure, he was a Dark type, and Dark types were often Pokémon that one should be cautious around, but Wrath was a Dark type, and he was fairly pleasant. But this Pokémon… There was something about this fusion that Muffin just didn't like.

"Yeah, I like being a fusion," Wrath answered after a brief moment of hesitation. "It's useful in battle."

"I guess we agree on this subject. Thank you for your time. It'll be a great help to our cause." With that, the Pokémon turned around and floated past them. Muffin noticed that his gem-like eyes were different colors; one was light blue like a normal sableye, and the other was a pale yellow, like a honey topaz.

"That was weird…" Kiki mumbled.

"Yeah," Bolt replied.

"So, now that that's out of the way," Wrath said, climbing up the steps to the door, "let me show you around."


	7. The Professor - Part 2

Wrath pushed the door open, leading Muffin, Bolt, and Kiki. The inner walls of the Pokémon Lab were a royal blue, and decorated with what looked like artwork of Pokémon or old maps. There were several cushioned benches with glass tables for lounging. The Pokémon at the wooden counter was what appeared to be a gardevoir fused with a serperior; his skirt was pulled back behind him and was shaped into a leafy tail, and a leafy collar rose behind his head.

Muffin noticed another fusion walking up to them; this one was a charmander fused with a gible. He looked mostly like a charmander, except he had a fin on his back, and his lower jaw connected with his stomach, which was a bright yellow. Muffin could tell he was shiny because of his more brightly colored skin and the light blue sparkles that floated around him.

"Wrath, where have you been?" he asked. "It's been four days since you left. Mom has been worried."

"I know, Fang, I'm really sorry," Wrath replied. "I would have made it back sooner, but there was this barbaracle, and he wouldn't let me into the city. He said that there was a blackout. I could tell he was lying, but I still don't understand why he didn't want me going in there."

"If that was the case, then why did no one else fight back?"

While Wrath explained his absence to Fang, Muffin decided to check out the artwork on the wall. There was a painting of an audino, as well as various anatomical sketches of other Pokémon, most of which were of ancient Pokémon. There were some he recognized, such as a lileep and omanyte. There were various lines pointing to different body parts with notes written next to them.

What he was really interested in, however, was a sketch of a slugma which had a photograph of the Pokémon next to it. He read some of the notes written next to the image.

 _~ APPARENTLY CALLED SLUGMA_

 _~ MOST LIKELY FIRE-TYPE_

Muffin twitched his ears. 'Apparently'? 'Most likely'? It wasn't like slugma were uncommon; they could be found in most regions. Why did this drawing treat it as though it were some new discovery of a Pokémon?

He noticed part of a note on the bottom corner of the drawing, which was mostly covered by the photograph.

 _FC_

Curious to see what the note said, he stood upon the arm of one of the benches and leaned against the wall. Stretching as far as possible to try and support himself, he carefully reached one paw over to try and move the photograph out of the way.

He gently bent one corner of the photograph and began to read. He managed to read most of the note; however, before he could read the full thing, his paw slipped on the wall and the eevee fell forward onto the tiled floor. He got up and swiftly looked around to make sure no one noticed. He continued to look up at the drawing. Before he could think about the note, he heard Bolt calling to him.

"Are you coming?"

Muffin looked over to her. "O-Oh. Yeah." He gave one last glance at the drawing, starting to feel concerned, and joined the other three Pokémon by the elevator's entrance. Wrath pressed the elevator button and the elevator began to ascend.

The elevator reached the second floor, and Wrath, Bolt, Kiki, and Muffin left the elevator. The second floor was filled to the brim with monitors and various types of machines that reminded Muffin too much of the lab he had been born in. There was a small battle between two fusions going on in a small corner of the room.

If one thing was becoming more clear with each passing second, it was that nearly all of the Pokémon in this lab were fusions. Fang was a fusion, the Pokémon at the counter had been a fusion, all of the scientists that could be seen were fusions, Wrath was a fusion.

Muffin decided to stay behind near the elevator; he was uncomfortable with being around such complex machinery. He used the time by himself to think about some things. Based on the lack of questions from Bolt, he assumed she didn't see him staying behind.

He wondered why so many Pokémon had been fused in the first place. The article he had read in Santalune City gave no insight on the root cause of this. Was it simply a result of a dumb idea suddenly becoming a trend? Or were they forced into becoming a fusion by Humans, just like he had been forced into learning TMs that he was incompatible with?

Muffin believed the latter option more. Sure, he thought that many other Pokémon were dumb, but he didn't believe they were so dumb as to willingly do something that had potentially permanent consequences.

He was starting to feel bad for them all. He knew more or less what it was like to go through gene-splicing experiments. After all, it was the only way his old Human owner could make him compatible with the various TMs; without the fire sac from a torracat inside of him, there was no way for a plain eevee like him to learn Fire-type moves like Flamethrower.

His mind began racing. _Fire types…_

Muffin again thought about slugma. In particular, his mind went to the note that was covered up by the photograph.

 _FOSSIL: UNDISCOV_

 _Why would slugma have a fossil?_ Muffin wondered. He had seen slugma and magcargo a little over four years ago. Or, at least, it felt like four years ago to him. Then again, a lot of things seemed to change from four years ago in what seemed like an infinitely small fraction of a second.

 _Okay, let's assume it wasn't just a dumb conspiracy theory, and slugma and magcargo did go extinct,_ he thought. _Wouldn't it take longer than a year for a species to go extinct, though? Either my perception of time is off or they aren't actually extinct like the drawing implied._

But then again, this was a professor's lab. It was highly unlikely that something as big as this would be displayed in a laboratory if it was inaccurate or incorrect.

Muffin was starting to become confused. The more he thought about it, the more likely it seemed that they were extinct. Yet, things didn't seem to add up. Wouldn't there have been major efforts to protect them if they had even come close to being endangered?

Before he could think further on the topic, Bolt, Kiki, and Wrath came back with a fourth Pokémon by their side.

"Oh, hey, Muffin," Bolt greeted. "What were you doing over here by the elevator?"

Muffin turned toward her and swiftly pushed his bangs to the side. "Wh-what? Nothing, I just…" The eevee hesitated, not wanting to explain his discomfort around machinery to Bolt. If anything, it would just make her ask more questions. He shook his head. "I'm just not interested in this sort of stuff, so I-I… figured I'd wait until you guys were done looking around."

Bolt tilted her head. "Is there someth-"

"No, I'm fine, let's just move on," he interrupted. "Now then, I don't see the professor with you, so I assume she's somewhere else in the building."

Uh…" Bolt paused, as though considering to ask another question. "Yeah. She's up on the third floor. Oh, this is Jewel, by the way."

The unfamiliar Pokémon nodded to Muffin, and he nodded back. She appeared to be a fusion between a bulbasaur and milotic; she was mostly like a bulbasaur except she had a slimmer build, and she had the long red bangs and intricately designed tail of a milotic. Additionally, a red and green scarf was wrapped around her neck, and she had blue markings around her eyes that were akin to eyeshadow.

The five Pokémon entered the elevator and went to the third floor. The room they entered had two bookshelves lined with large books with titles like "The Balance of Unova", "Necrozma: The Prism of Alola", and "The Ancestor of Infinity: The Elusive Mew". There were two small desks with a computer on each desk; one computer was being used by four members of exeggcute while the remaining two worked together to skim through a book.

In the corner sat a fusion between a squirtle and larvitar. Like larvitar, he had the holes in his shell, a red striped bottom shell, tail, head crest, and eye markings. Otherwise, he was just like a regular squirtle.

"Hey, Larry," Wrath greeted the fellow fusion. "Is Professor Hakea up here?"

The fusion looked over. "Oh, hey, Wrath. Good to see you back. Also, Hakea is in her cubicle if you're looking for her."

"Great, thanks."

Kiki turned her head. Next to Larry was a weavile with a notebook and pen in his claws, and light blue glasses on his face (which, Muffin noticed upon closer inspection, had no lenses). "Who's that?"

Wrath looked over. "Uh, I don't know him either."

The weavile shook his head. "Don't mind me. I'm just doing an interview. Fusion is a big topic of interest for the group I'm in, so getting as much knowledge about it as I can is a necessity. I probably won't be here much longer, so you don't need to worry about me."

Muffin opened his mouth to comment, but was interrupted by Bolt.

"So anyway," she said, "can we meet Professor Hakea now? That's the main reason we came here, right? I can't wait to meet her!"

Wrath nodded and smiled. "Yeah, you're. She should be right behind here," he said, walking across the room and through the opening in the blue room divider, followed by Bolt, Jewel, and Muffin. Kiki gave one last glance at the weavile before catching up with them.

In this half of the room, several framed pictures of various Pokémon were hung up on the wall- some were paintings or pencil drawings, some were pages torn from old books, and some were photographs. There was a nicely carved wooden desk at the end of a room with several computers resting atop it. A garchomp, which sat behind the desk, looked up from the computer screens.

"Oh, welcome back, Wrath." The garchomp got up from her desk and walked up to the five Pokémon. "I see you've brought some guests!"

"Yes, they've been excited to meet you. Bolt, Kiki, Muffin…" Wrath grinned. "I'd like you all to meet Professor Hakea."

* * *

 **In the first part of this multi-part chapter, I said that this would only be two parts. I was wrong. Because of how long things got, I decided to split it into three parts. Like I said before, just pretend it's just one chapter.**

 **I suppose it makes sense, with this being such an important chapter in the story. It's after this three-part chapter where things really kick off, so please bear with me.**


	8. Discontinuation Notice

Sorry for such a late update. I figured I'd make an update chapter.

I hate to keep you waiting just to disappoint you (or the few of you who were reading), but I've decided that I want to discontinue this story.

I've had so much trouble gathering motivation to write it, and every time I want to continue it, I get the urge to revise a lot of stuff, which probably results in confusion on the reader's part. Plus, with how old of a story it is, there's a lot of stuff that I'm just unsatisfied with.

I'll leave both versions of the story on the site in case anyone wants to reread for whatever reason, but anyways, have a nice day, and I'm sorry to get your hopes up.


End file.
